Right at the heart of Christmas tradition, just as important as decorations, a tree and mince pies, is the turkey.

And for those looking to combine their bird with a spot of money-saving, Morrisons has topped the sixth annual
This is Money cheapest Christmas turkey poll with a frugal offering of
£9 for a whole frozen bird, at just £2.80 per kg.

The supermarket beat budget shops Aldi and Lidl to the top place - with both chains charging just 99p more for their frozen birds.

Festive feast: Aldi's standard bird (pictured) came top of the poll for fresh birds. It costs £19.99 for a 4.8kg bird.

Cheapest fresh turkeys: Aldi takes top spot

Households this year can expect to pay £20 for a medium-sized fresh bird, according to the research.

Budget supermarket Aldi came
out top for the standard bird category, with its whole British fresh
medium turkey £19.99, at £4.16 per kg for an 4.8kg bird, serving
between six and eight people. It is also the cheapest pound-per-kilo fresh turkey.

The turkey is just 1p cheaper than the average price at rival supermarket Tesco, which is selling a 5.3kg bird for £20.

Chart: Aldi topped the This is Money cheapest Christmas poll for fresh birds - it costs £19.99 for a 4.8kg turkey.

Last year’s winner Morrisons came
third with its medium fresh turkey for £21 - a 4.2kg bird serving 7 to 8 people.

The cost of a standard turkey has fallen from last year when the cheapest standard fresh turkey from Morrisons set back shoppers £5 per kg, compared to this year with Aldi's £4.16.

Asda and Lidl could only supply prices for their frozen turkeys as prices are yet to be announced for their fresh ranges.

At the other end of the table it was,
perhaps surprisingly, the Co-operative who are selling the
most expensive bird using the pound per kilo calculation. Its British Elmwood fresh medium turkey could cost up to £6.90 per
kg, as it has just one set price of £21 not matter the size of the bird.

The turkey ranges from 3.05kg to 4.73kg in weight but is only sold with the £21 price tag - this means that those unlucky customers who get a small variety of the bird could be paying up to £6.90 per kilo.

A spokesman from the Co-operative
said that its 'fresh and frozen own-brand turkeys and turkey crowns are
the retailer’s higher-welfare British Elmwood standard or above, which
guarantees perfectly tender, succulent, moist and flavoursome meat -
perfect for a Christmas dinner centrepiece.'

Marks and Spencer is the second most expensive for its £5.89 per kg turkey – with a £27.95 price tag for a 4.75kg bird.

While Ocado and Waitrose came in joint third place with Waitrose's fresh standard turkey.

Breast buy: Our This is Money poll found that Morrisons had the cheapest frozen Christmas turkey at just £9

Where to get the cheapest free range turkey

At the other end of the price
spectrum it was Aldi’s Specially Selected turkey, costing £5.83 per kg
which topped the free range category with the lowest price.

While Tesco’s finest bronze turkey coming in second best place at an average of £6.90 per kg.

The most expensive supermarket is Waitrose, for its bronze feathered free range turkey, at £10.49 per kg.

A
spokesman for Waitrose told This is Money: 'All of our turkeys (fresh
and frozen) are British and from farmers with high welfare standards.
Put simply the better we look after our birds, the tastier the meat they
eventually produce.'

'Although the cost of feed has risen significantly, we ensure that our farmers are still paid a fair price.'

Free and easy: Free range turkeys cost more, but shops argue that you pay for quality.